If you’ve ever traveled to San Francisco and walked or driven through the gorgeous landscape that is Golden Gate Park, then you know why Runner’s World magazine has ranked this race — long known as the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon and now run as the San Francisco Half Marathon®, 10K & 5K presented by Sutter Health — among the country’s most scenic.
From the long, expansive meadows on the eastern end of the park to the beachfront stretch along the Pacific, Golden Gate Park is one of those can’t-miss San Francisco places to see, and it forms a gorgeous backdrop for the race. Organized by the Pamakid Runners, the event is a fixture on the Bay Area racing calendar, and race proceeds support local San Francisco Bay Area charities.
Runners line up on JFK Promenade, just east of Blue Heron Lake Drive (formerly Stow Lake), near the heart of Golden Gate Park. From there the point-to-point, net-downhill course loops out around the Panhandle, winds back through the park past landmarks like the Conservatory of Flowers, the Music Concourse, the windmills and the resident bison, then heads west to the ocean.
All three distances — the Half Marathon, 10K and 5K — are USA Track & Field certified.
